I used a clip-on lens for my smartphone for a long time, and was able to get hundreds of great photos for under $40: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations?created_d2=2023-02-01&place_id=any&user_id=lgarriga&verifiable=any (Anything macro is with the lens, anything more than 2 meters away is a DSLR). The only thing is to get a high quality phone macro lens at more than 10x, it might be a bit more difficult. But either way, a pretty cheap and pretty good quality way of approaching macro photogrphy:
I wanted a macro lens for my DSLR, so I found a $70 alternative to a many hundred dollar macro lens; a Raynox DCR-250 which attaches to a telephoto lens for macro. Same issues with depth of field, but still not bad photos overall. I still don’t have a diffuser other than the piece of paper I tape in front of my flash.
